Sabalenka Bundled Out of Beijing by Bartunkova as Top Seeds Tumble

The China Open has lost its two biggest names in the space of a day. World No. 34 Nikola Bartunkova stunned four-time Grand Slam champion Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 35 minutes at the National Tennis Center on Sunday, completing a weekend of carnage at the top of the draw.

Sabalenka never found her rhythm. Broken in the opening game, she squandered five break-point chances in the sixth game of the first set and never recovered. The defeat extends a curious trend: she has never advanced past the quarterfinals in Beijing. For the 20-year-old Bartunkova, it was only the second Top 10 victory of her career, following her win over then-No. 10 Belinda Bencic at this year's Australian Open.

The upset came a day after newly crowned world No. 1 Elena Rybakina was also eliminated, marking the first time in 12 years — since Simona Halep and Petra Kvitova in 2015 — that Beijing's top two seeds both failed to reach the round of 16. Bartunkova next faces Austria's Sinja Kraus, a 6-1, 6-4 winner over Dayana Yastremska, while fifth seed Mirra Andreeva kept the seeds alive with a 68-minute 6-4, 6-1 dispatch of Polina Kudermetova.